The CIS experts will gather in Minsk on 24-25 January to discuss the interstate draft program CIS Cultural Capitals, BelTA learnt from the press service of the CIS Executive Committee.

The preparation and implementation of the interstate program is among the objectives of the Year of Historical and Cultural Heritage in the CIS. The program was included in the list of priority events of the humanitarian cooperation in 2011-2012.

According to BelTA, the program was initiated by the Humanitarian Cooperation Council and the CIS Interstate Humanitarian Cooperation Fund. The program was approved at a session the Council of the CIS Heads of Government in Saint Petersburg on 19 November.

A program like that will be implemented in the CIS for the first time. It seeks to promote an intercultural dialogue as the basis for trust and mutual understanding, to unite cultural potentials of the countries, to enhance the international prestige of the Commonwealth. Taking part in the program will be mostly non-capital cities. Every year the CIS will announce two cultural capitals – one from each state in the alphabetic order of the countries.

In 2011 the first cultural capitals of the program were Belarus’ Gomel and Russia’s Ulyanovsk. In 2012 the title went to Kazakhstan’s Astana and Turkmenistan’s Mary. These cities will play host to a number of events – exhibitions, concerts, festivals, conferences and forums – featuring representatives of all 11 countries of the CIS.

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MINSK. January 24. KAZINFORM